Patients in Fife hospitals will again be able to receive two visitors each day from Wednesday 25 May 2022 as visiting restrictions are gradually eased.
Hospital visiting has been limited to a single visitor as part of a series of measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in healthcare sites. With a reduction in the numbers of those with COVID-19 in Fife hospitals and the wider community, these restrictions are being gradually relaxed.
From Wednesday 25 May 2022, patients in most areas of Fife hospitals will be allowed visits from two people at any given time. In areas where this cannot be accommodated due to 2-metre distancing requirements, patients will continue to be able to receive two visitors per day, with one visitor permitted at a time.
Essential visiting will continue to be facilitated in wards or areas where patients are being treated whilst positive for COVID-19. Essential visiting includes those who are visiting relatives receiving end of life care, or to support someone with a mental health issue, learning disability, autism, or dementia where not being present would cause the patient to be distressed.
All visitors should regularly apply hand sanitiser and must continue to wear a fluid resistant surgical face mask, which are available at hospital entrances. Within our Children’s, Neonatal and Maternity wards, children visiting must be a sibling of the young person in hospital care.
Strict hygiene measures remain in place to limit the risk of the virus spreading within our hospitals. These include visitors being prevented from bringing presents such as flowers, food parcels or balloons into the hospital.
Importantly, visitors must not attend if they have recently had sickness or diarrhoea, or any cold and flu symptoms, regardless of whether they test negative for COVID-19.
Visitors are also strongly urged to test for COVID-19 before attending and home test kits remain free-of-charge to those visiting hospitals. Information on how to order such kits is available at: www.nhsfife.org/testing.
All visiting arrangements continue to be kept under regular review in line with COVID-19 infection rates and hospital capacity, with a view to moving to full person-centred visiting when safe to do so.
NHS Fife’s Director of Nursing, Janette Owens, said:
“Visits from loved ones are really beneficial for patients’ recovery and we’re committed to making visiting as safe, open and accessible as possible.
“We know that allowing only one visitor at a time has been difficult for some patients, and indeed for their families, however, this was essential in helping us reduce the opportunity for clusters of COVID-19 to develop in our hospitals. As we ease these restrictions, strict hygiene and distancing measures will remain in place to help us minimise the risk to patients and healthcare staff.
“The fact that we are seeing fewer clusters in our hospitals has been greatly helped by visitors adhering to the measures in place on the use face coverings and hand washing, and we’re very pleased to be in a position where we can ease visiting restrictions once more.”
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